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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23731372">How Did This Happen?</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capns_scrolls/pseuds/Capns_scrolls'>Capns_scrolls</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TDP Spiderverse AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Memories</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:42:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,719</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23731372</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capns_scrolls/pseuds/Capns_scrolls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>They've all got powers, they've all lost someone, they're all together, and now they've all got to get home.</p><p>OR</p><p>A Spiderverse AU where three teens have powers and by God they DO NOT know how to use them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aanya &amp; Ellis &amp; Ezran (The Dragon Prince), they're Bros - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>TDP Spiderverse AU [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709320</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>How Did This Happen?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello, welcome to my Spiderverse AU that caters to my very specific ideas and only exists because I realized that thinking about fics that don't exist won't bring them into existence. So unfair, I know.</p><p>Few things to know:<br/>-This is going to be a ficlet series with installments that may or may not be in order (depending on what ideas come to mind and when I write them.)<br/>-There isn't some overarching complex plot or big bad govt or corporation these kids need to evade, it's just stupid teens with powers being stupid teens with powers.<br/>-Rayla's still an elf<br/>-Rayllum will eventually happen, and the ficlets in the series will be tagged as such.<br/>-Each ficlet will be ~1k-5k words</p><p>Warning for this installment: No major character death here, but the characters that do die mean a lot to the leads. Read at your own discretion.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It all came rushing to him.</p><p>The late nights on the roofs of the tallest skyscrapers. The arms that caught him if he didn’t aim his webs quite right. The only person he could confide in about his secret.</p><p>Now he’d spend those nights alone. No one would be there to catch him or guide him. The only person who truly understood the burden of his powers was gone.</p><p>No, not gone. Killed.</p><p>She was killed, and he couldn’t save her.</p><p>Ezran did the only thing he could. He carried his mother away from the scene, but not before leaving the guilty party to deal with some of his... little friends.</p><p>The hospital did all they could, but hours and hours of trying wasn’t enough. Callum and Amaya raced to Sarai’s bedside as soon as possible. No one slept that night. She was gone by sunrise.</p><p>“<em> It was the only thing you could have done. I don’t blame you, Ezran. We don’t blame you, </em>” Amaya signed to him.</p><p>He hated those words. He refused to let them be true, no matter how much it hurt him to do so.</p><p>Even in the following weeks, the news still talked about the robbery. How the robbers were unsuccessful in their sloppy attempt to get some cash, how they were left on the floor, tied up in thick cocoons of webs. The coverage brought the smallest of smiles to the teen’s face, and…</p><p>What the hell was he doing? He shouldn’t be taking some twisted satisfaction in this, revenge wasn’t the way to-</p><p>But they murdered her. In cold blood. All because she was ‘in their way’.</p><p>Having a bit of satisfaction from those men going behind bars wouldn’t hurt, would it?</p><p>He turned off the television before the reporters could bring up the M.I.A. battle partner of Spider Queen. Ezran was pushing his tardiness, so he left for school.</p><p>Of course, there was one thing on everyone’s mind at school when break ended. The one thing Ezran didn’t want to think about.</p><p>
  <em> “Spider Queen got shot!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “No way! Did she die? Please tell me she didn’t die.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “I tried to get a look at the scene, I heard the robbers were trapped and strung up in literal webs!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “She’s handled much worse without a scratch, but a fucking robbery kills her of all things? I call bullshit.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Where’s that little partner of hers? Heard he hasn’t been seen since the incident. It probably hit him pretty hard. A week and a half and no word of him or anything.” </em>
</p><p>The whispers plagued his head, bouncing relentlessly and growing louder with each echo. Ezran was usually able to tune out whatever he didn’t want to hear. After all, being born with enhanced senses all his life made them easier to control and manipulate to his will.</p><p>Despite this, sometimes Ezran forgot he was just as human as anyone else, just as emotionally vulnerable. With those emotions also came with certain involuntary thoughts, actions and subconscious shutdown of conscious thoughts and actions. Sometimes, it was impossible to realize he was losing control in the first place.</p><p>Ezran’s teachers knew his mom was gone, so they went easier on him. To let him cope with the ‘car crash’.</p><p>His friends did all they could to try to help him. Ezran appreciated the gestures, but the only thing that could help him, and what he looked forward to the most right now, were the additional scheduled appointments with his therapist.</p><p>Of course, he had to be very selective with what he disclosed to her, but the therapy office was the few places he felt safe enough to let out his emotions without judgement. Especially since one of the few other people he let himself be open with was gone.</p><p>Home took quite a while to adjust to. Hell, Ezran wasn’t sure if anyone would fully adjust to it. It always seemed there was too little food on the table. There was too much room on the couch. Too many rooms in their one-story house. For several weeks, it was too quiet.</p><p>Amaya had to pick up extra shifts, and Callum even found a second part-time job. They didn’t bother Ezran too much about looking for one, they knew the stress that came with saving the city.</p><p>While it helped that he didn’t have to keep his secret from his brother and aunt, Ezran missed having someone else with superpowers to confide in.</p><p>In that regard, he truly was alone.</p><hr/><p>Two years ago, if someone told Rayla she’d go from running across treetops to swinging between them, she would have laughed in your face. Such a notion was completely outlandish. Yet here she was, doing just that.</p><p>Swinging from the treetops was much faster and more efficient than running and jumping, not to mention it was significantly more fun, even if she’d never tell that to Runaan. Her work was not meant to be fun.</p><p>But what Runaan didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.</p><p>To think it all started from a small animal bite was quite… estranging. Rayla still didn't fully understand it herself. Frankly, she wasn’t sure anybody did, or <em> could. </em></p><p>The event happened about a year ago, and Rayla remembered it vividly. She was on a training mission, recovering her lost breath when a black, lizard-like animal bit an exposed bit of skin on the back of her hand. It was roughly the size of her thumb, and she distinctly remembered the glowing green eyes on either side of its face.</p><p>She didn’t think much of the bite, the mark didn’t resemble any venomous animal bite she knew of, even if it did cause her pain. Rayla fell into an uneasy sleep pattern over the next month, some nights sleeping too much and barely getting a wink on others. When the discomfort subsided, her powers emerged. She did all she could to hide them, teaching herself as best she could.</p><p>Her largest advantage was the spaciousness of Silvergrove. It wasn’t hard to find a private secluded space. If anyone asked or developed suspicions, she was able to brush it off as building up her skills to one day become an assassin. It wasn’t quite what many expected to hear from the twenty-year-old. Assassins usually didn’t start training for a few more years, but Rayla was always one to get as early of a start on anything as possible.</p><p>Her parents were a bit tougher to convince, but they trusted their daughter, so long as Runaan supervised Rayla so she wouldn’t hurt herself.</p><p>Rayla tried. She hid her powers when Runaan was teaching her for as long as she could, but even the best of teachers could push the deepest buttons of their students without realizing it.</p><p>She lost control for the smallest moment, but it was more than enough time.</p><p>“Shut <em> up! </em>”</p><p>She threw her swords down, a line of webbing stretched her wrist to the hilts. Her blades bore into the ground, as deep as an arrow would go if it was shot from a few meters away.</p><p>Rayla had no way out of this one. Nothing went over Runaan’s head -well, aside from the occasional joke or two -but she had no choice except to come clean about what happened on the training course nine months ago.</p><p>When Rayla told her parents about her powers, their shock was understandable. Rayla was grateful that she had a bit more control over her abilities by the time they found out. Tiadrin and Lain were lost for words, or, more appropriately, there were <em> many </em>words they wanted to say but none were coming out.</p><p>At that time, Rayla didn’t know the full extent of her abilities, or how it would affect her work. That’s where Runaan came in.</p><p>With Runaan as her designated teacher, he gave her access to better and more secluded training grounds. She described her powers to him, additional strength and speed, heightened senses and instincts, hands and feet sticking to walls, and her web production.</p><p>It was a <em> lot </em> to wrap one’s head around, but Runaan handled it exceptionally well.</p><p>It was a learning experience for both of them, but adapting to new and changing circumstances was a bit of a specialty for the older elf. With his help, Ralya improved by leaps and bounds in controlling her powers within a few short months. She learned how to use physics in her favor and how to fight without using or revealing her powers. Until one day, when Runaan came to her with an idea.</p><p>Rayla had used her web-producing ability when training with Runaan, and while it could be used to lay traps and to throw off an enemy, it didn’t do much. After all, arachnid webs weren’t designed to capture elves or humans. They caught fallen foliage, insects and some small animals and were time-consuming to make. Now, there was a possible solution to this.</p><p>Ethari, who learned of Rayla’s bite and the aftermath of it, had crafted two charms for Rayla, one for each wrist, both enchanted with runes she recognized individually but not in the formation he placed them in. One of the charms made Rayla’s webbing into a projectile, which she could use to silence or temporarily blind her targets, the other made the webs able to immediately fall into a pattern that made the webbing as strong as any hidden trap. Both charms strengthened the webbing, and if used in unison, the webbing from both arms would form into long and narrow ropes.</p><p>It took him months of research and even longer to find a mage to help him with the enchantments, but he succeeded. In succeeding, he opened the door to a whole new set of possibilities to Rayla.</p><p>The secret of Rayla’s abilities was shared sparingly. If she wanted to become a warrior, the greatest advantage would be for her whole team to know and use her abilities when fighting one or multiple opponents. However, hiding her identity from as many people as possible would be wisest. The less people who associated her with this new, nameless super-powered elf, the less liability. So she was provided a mask and a hood.</p><p>Rayla enjoyed training in her new attire. It was a different feeling, but not unwelcome. She’s been doing this for the past two weeks, and Runaan also agreed it was a good idea. </p><p>She neared the end of her training routine for the day, using her webs to fling herself into the air one last time before gracefully falling to the ground. She extended her left hand, setting some webs to bounce between, effectively reducing her speed as she approached the ground.</p><p>Rayla’s feet hit the grass with barely any sound. “Your best time yet,” Runaan told her, back in her direction. He rose from his meditation pose to meet her expression. “Your endurance is improving.”</p><p>Rayla hadn’t realized it, but not that he brought it up, she <em> was </em>less winded than her previous lap on the course. She pulled up the mask to take in larger amounts of air.</p><p>“You’ve done well today. You may return home.”</p><p>Rayla took the mask off, tucking it into her overvest, but barely managed to walk two steps without her instincts firing off. Her mind screaming <em> danger </em> in the far reaches of her mind. She stopped, listening for anything. Footsteps, unnatural russling, a lurking storm, even.</p><p>She certainly wasn’t expecting the ground to open up and swallow her.</p><p>“RUNAAN!”</p><p>Rayla aimed for the nearest tree, two ropes of web now the only thing holding her from what appeared to be a bottomless pit beneath her.</p><p>The gravity of the chasm was stronger, her webs were ripped from her grasp. The instant her hands entered the chasm like the rest of her body, the Xadian sunlight disappeared.</p><p>Runaan didn’t turn around fast enough to see what occurred.</p><hr/><p>Callum tightened the golden sunflowers as he approached the grave. Even a year later, he recalled that evening so vividly. It involuntarily replayed in his mind, no matter how much he willed it not to. </p><p>
  <em> “Great work today, Callum. You can punch in your hours,” Harrow said as he closed the lab door behind him. </em>
</p><p><em>"</em> <em> There’s still an hour left on the clock,” Callum responded. “I still have work to do. What brings you in here?” </em></p><p>
  <em> “Nothing! Nothing, I just-... it’s not important, finish what you have to do and we can discuss it later.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Callum knew the tone his stepfather used. It only showed when he had something to discuss but wasn’t sure how to put it into words. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Alright,” Callum said, turning back to the computer screen to finish inputting his observation notes. Harrow walked out the door, back to the room that mammalian animals were housed. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> It was now the final half hour of the shift. Callum immediately began cleaning the room, putting all the final test animals away and making sure they were all comfortable and settled in for the night. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Callum’s job wasn’t to expose the test subjects to the radiation doses, but only to observe. The former being the task of his friend and fellow coworker, Claudia. Her father was the person to discover that radiation could be used to treat currently ‘incurable’ diseases, if the radiation was processed carefully and given in the proper doses, that is. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> All the test animals under Callum’s care were insects and arachnids infected with different bacteria and viruses and exposed to the radiation, because of this all the terrariums were airtight with oxygen flowing into each one. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> It wasn’t until Callum sealed the last terrarium when it happened. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He barely took two steps before the wall exploded. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Callum was knocked into the corner of the wall of terrariums and the floor. Broken glass from the terrariums fell down, slicing his arms as he shielded his face. He didn’t have time to figure out which, or even if any of the animals were escaping, he only had one thing set on his mind: finding his stepfather and getting the hell out. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> His radiation suit was compromised, but he didn’t think about that either. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He also didn’t think about his own safety when he went in to grab Harrow from the rubble. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He pulled out his phone and Called for an ambulance, making sure his stepfather’s breathing and pulse persisted. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> The radiation and explosion had taken its toll on Harrow’s body. Callum was also admitted for his own exposure, and an infected spider bite. </em>
</p><p><em> So some of them </em> had <em> escaped their terrariums. </em></p><p>The radiation experiments were going to be cures. They were supposed to <em> help </em>people. It was not supposed to backfire like that, especially in the way that it did.</p><p>He wasn’t supposed to ‘succumb to his wounds’.</p><p>He wasn’t supposed to be <em> betrayed </em>like that.</p><p>Viren got what he deserved, but it wasn’t enough for Harrow’s sons. Especially Callum, since he was the one who survived...</p><p>Yet here he and Ezran were, at Harrow’s grave. Both of them powerless to stop the loss of their father, and still coping with it. The two boys stood there in silence, placing the scarlet and gold flowers on their father’s grave. They shared fond memories, crying everything out and exchanging embraces.</p><p>“I miss him,” the younger whispered, barely audible. “So much…”</p><p>Callum tightened his grasp in response, an equally soft “Me too” falling from his lips.</p><p>The passing time didn’t register. A cool breeze brought their attention to the setting sun, silently nudging them home.</p><p>Sarai and Amaya were already home by the time Callum and Ezran got there. All of them had red eyes from tears and red cheeks from the chilled air. Dinner was eaten in silence, then the rising moon lulled them all to their rooms, although how much sleep they would actually recieve was anyone’s guess.</p><p>Sarai couldn’t even bring herself to open the door, instead opting to sleep on the couch in the clothes she wore that day.</p><p>Moonlight filled Callum’s bedroom window. He couldn’t focus on anything. The music from his phone was drowned by his own thoughts. His motivation to change out of his spiderman suit and the clothes he wore over it washed away with his body crashing onto his mattress. Sounds and images from that tragedy replaying over and over. They were the reason he was who he was today. What he was. Everyone called him a hero, but he didn’t feel like one. </p><p>How? How was it fair that he was caught in some horrible freak accident and came out fine, while his father died? Why did the spider have to bite <em> him? </em>Why couldn’t it have just left well enough alone?! Why didn’t the radiation just take his life like it did with Harrow rather than… what it did to the twenty-year-old.</p><p>Callum sat up, glaring at the full moon as if it somehow had the answers that he desperately wanted.</p><p>No, not wanted. Needed.</p><p>Callum didn’t even know what Harrow wanted to tell him that was so ‘not important’.</p><p>
  <em> “...Nothing, I just-... it’s not important.” </em>
</p><p><em> “It’s important to me!” </em>Callum thought as he let his tears fall in silence.</p><p>The moonlight grew brighter. Unnaturally bright, even. Callum’s instincts fired off, knowing something wasn’t right. He ripped his earbuds out, searching for anything that could be triggering his internal alarms. </p><p>The light in his room didn’t dim or plateau. In fact, it kept pouring in exponentially, seeping a force like a magnetic pull that Callum was powerless against.</p><p>He gravitated towards the window, hand extended and veins glowing electric blue under his skin. A small part of his subconscious remembering to grab his mask from his bedside table, which he did in a nick of time.</p><p>He released the electricity from his fingertips, the sound of shattering glass doing nothing about Callum’s growing blindness as the light became the only thing that filled his vision.</p><p>Callum felt a pulse of energy coming from the light, then his feet rising from the floor. If he was one second later in taking his mack, it would be the only evidence of spiderman in his room. The last thing he needed his family finding out today.</p><p>Callum fell to the ground with a hard thud. It didn’t take him longer than a second to realize that he wasn’t in his room anymore. </p><hr/><p>“What’s got’cha down?” piped a voice Ezran definitely needed. Ellis slid onto the bench next to him, her enormous school bag carefully placed on her lap.</p><p>“Stuff,” Ezran replied, swallowing his sadness, although his expression conveyed far more than anything he could manage to say in the moment.</p><p>“I know I’m really bad with responding to messages, but I did see what you sent.” When his mother drew her last breath, Ezran told Ellis a few hours later. A freak accident, and she was gone in the hospital.</p><p>Ezran’s chest tightened with Ellis' words, bracing himself for what she might say next.</p><p>“Ez, I’m not sure what I can say to help you, or if I can even say anything,” she put a comforting hand on his shoulder, “I’m here if you want to talk. About anything. Your mom, your brother or Aunt giving you shit, hell if you just wanna scream at the world, Ava and I will be right there with you. Well, Ava will probably howl, but you know.”</p><p>Ezran didn't say anything. He just leaned forward and hugged her. It was the first time he hugged anyone since Sarai’s passing, and it felt good to embrace a friend like this.</p><p>Ellis returned it. “And if you ever decide to talk to me and I overstep your boundaries don’t be afraid to let me know, okay?”</p><p>Ezran nodded, wiping his eyes. “Thanks, Ells, I appreciate it, but can we change the subject?”</p><p>“Of course! Wanna...” she put a finger to her chin as she fumbled for a new topic. “See what I’m working on?”</p><p>“Do I have much of a choice?” Ezran forced a laugh.</p><p>“I mean, you do, but I’d like to share,” the young roboticist answered.</p><p>Ezran let out a genuine, soft laugh. “Alright, show me your new project.”</p><p>Ellis’ eyes grew wide with excitement, hands diving into the large bag and rummaging for the pieces of her current work in progress. She pulled out two neatly welded pieces of tech, nearly identical with the exception of the colored tape wrapped around them. Ezran didn’t really know how to describe them as anything except model airplane engines with a small stand.</p><p>“That’s… cool!”</p><p>“Thanks! It’s a subatomic deconstructor! Well, this one is,” Ellis held up the one with brown tape wrapped around the center of it. “This one’s the reconstructor!” she said as she held up the one with pink tape.</p><p>“Nice!” Ezran said with a bit more energy. Ellis was just one of those people who radiated positive energy. It was quite contagious, and she didn’t even need to do much to lift someone’s mood, much less make their day. But it sometimes took extra time for people to process what she was saying, especially since she talked faster when in a good mood.</p><p>“I’m pretty sure I heard about two of those words. What does it do, exactly?”</p><p>“It can teleport things.” Ellis smiled and appeared to be inspecting her creation.</p><p>“Really trying to figure out how to sneak ice cream into your room at night, huh?” Ellis' sweet tooth was just as much of a motivator for her work as her goal to prove some of her more… ‘out there’ scientific theories.</p><p>Ellis chuckled. “You know it. Nothing gets in the way of me and Mint Chip Crunch!”</p><p>“Thought so,” Ezran matched Ellis’ enthusiasm, ignoring the all-too-familiar footsteps behind him. He would turn around to greet his friend, but it would raise an eyebrow or ten if he did that from twenty meters away.</p><p>When the footsteps were within Ellis’ earshot, the person the footsteps belonged to spoke. “And how many times has this contraption exploded on you?” Aanya walked up to the pair, taking a seat on the other side of Ezran. “One… two-hundred times?”</p><p>“I’ll have you know that this one is explosion free!” Ellis said innocently, but Ezran and Aanya knew her a bit too well to believe that.</p><p>“You haven’t tested it yet.” They started in unison, the blonde looking at her with a raised eyebrow.</p><p>“Okay, fine, maybe I haven’t, but I know this one will work! I hextuple checked it!”</p><p>Admittedly, that was quite an improvement for Ellis. It was rare for her to even double-check her numbers, much less six times.</p><p>Aanya opened her mouth to ask the question on the forefront of her mind, but Ezran beat her to it.</p><p>“It’s a teleporter,” Ezran said.</p><p>Sure, it might have been a bit risky, but Aanya and Ellis didn’t question Ezran’s strange ability to guess what they were thinking or about to say. He’s done it many times before, so the surprise factor was well worn by now.</p><p>Aanya's eyes widened at hearing that the device was a teleporter. It was definitely the most ambitious project Ellis has done, and Aanya did not hesitate to pluck the devices from Ellis’ hands, the latter of which gave an overdramatic gasp of betrayal. </p><p>“I’ll run the numbers and get back to you.” </p><p>Aanya trusted Ellis, but unlike the blackette, she had the resources to run through the system in simulations, checking the mathematics and calculations hundreds of times before putting the device into practice. It’s always what happened when Ellis had a new invention, and it saved her last few projects from going down in flames.</p><p>Well, saved it from the point beyond repair. It was difficult to avoid fire when Ellis was the one with the tools and the calculator.</p><p>“Wait, I have an idea!” Ezran told them. “How about we all see if it works? Together. In Ellis’ garage.”</p><p>“You mean ‘lab’,” she corrected.</p><p>“<em> My </em>lab,” Aanya interjected. “My family has a suitable location for testing items like this. We’ll meet after school and I’ll take you both there.”</p><p>“Works for me,” Ezran stated. Ellis nodded excitedly in agreement.</p><p>Aanya handed Ellis back the teleporter. “Very well. I’ll see you then.”</p><p>It felt nice to look forward to something, even if it was only short-lived. Ezran still found himself searching for distractions, anything to let his mind wander. Anything to keep it off his horrible break.</p><p>He succeeded, with a lot of effort, but he still prevailed. He sent a text to Amaya to let her know where he would be, then proceeded to meet his friends.</p><p>A subway trip and a mile walk later, they approached the building. Aanya knew a back way that she had access to, bringing them to a room on one of the higher floors. After Aanya had everything powered on and booted up, Ellis handed the teleporter to her. The machine was placed inside a clear chamber, where various lasers  scanned the device from every angle, and sent feedback to a supercomputer program that scrutinized it for any kinks.</p><p>Ellis and Aanya looked at the screen, eyes following every line of code and mathematical formula that appeared on it. All of which was a foreign language to Ezran, and he felt incredibly lucky to have two friends who could translate it for him.</p><p>On another monitor, an animation began playing. Ellis’ teleporter was the focus, with numbers flickering and changing  in the margins of the screen faster than Ezran could blink. After a few minutes, both monitors displayed the same message:</p><p>
  <b> <em>SIMULATION COMPLETE. ALL TRIALS SUCCESSFUL.</em> </b>
</p><p>The stoic blonde was pleasantly surprised to find that Ellis was successful. Ellis was purely ecstatic. Ezran was happy for Ellis, after all, it was her first invention to pass this kind of test on the first go.</p><p>“Okay, okay, what should we test it with?” Ellis’ voice got higher and faster with every word.</p><p>“Slow down, we need a better power source than a wall socket,” Aanya told her before she got too excited.</p><p>“Right, don’t want to cause a blackout.” Ellis said, putting her finger on her chin. “Do we have anything that <em> can </em> power it?”</p><p>“Give me a minute.” Aanya ran out of the room.</p><p>Ellis looked to Ezran.</p><p>“Can I ask you something?” She asked him cautiously. “If I’m overstepping anything or if it’s too- if you don’t want to answer for any reason, just-”</p><p>“If you ask the question first, I’ll tell you if I want to answer it first or not.”</p><p>“Right,” Ellis took a deep, quiet breath. “Does Aanya know? About your mom.”</p><p>Ezran grew silent, bringing his gaze to the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked over the city. “I told her,” he answered. “But she hasn’t brought it up.”</p><p>“And I promise that’s the last time <em> I’ll </em>bring it up,” Ellis assured.</p><p>“Thanks, Ells.”</p><p>Ellis’ heart was in the right place, but Ezran just wasn’t ready to discuss heavy topics like this with her. It hurt him to think about, much less discuss. That’s probably why Aanya hasn’t mentioned anything. She, in some form, understood what it was like to lose a family member like he did, and he remembered it took her ages before she even mentioned her late mothers’ names.</p><p>Aanya walked back in, hauling a large object that vaguely resembled a car battery. “This should give enough charge for a test or two.”</p><p>Ellis initially designed the teleporter to be plugged into an electrical system found in most houses and apartments, and the box that Aanya brought back had such an outlet. The original purpose of the power box was far beyond Ezran, but he didn’t question it.</p><p>“Alright, we have power and we have the machine, now we need a test object,” Ellis said.</p><p>“If you want to use it to sneak ice cream around, we should probably test this with that,” Ezran suggested, hand diving into his lunchbox.</p><p>Aanya sighed. “And where are we-”</p><p>Ezran held up a sealed, personal ice cream cup. “Chilled lunch box plus unmeltable supermarket ice cream gives us… this apparently.”</p><p>Neither Aanya nor Ezran thought that Ellis’ smile could get any wider, but she proved both of them wrong.</p><p>“Perfect! I’ll fire it up!”</p><p>Ellis did just that, flipping a switch on the teleporter while Aanya activated the power unit it was connected to. The contraption whirred to life. Aanya made sure everyone had tinted protective goggles and other protective equipment on, <em> and </em>they were all shielded by bulletproof glass. Always a treader of the safe side, she was.</p><p>“Whenever you’re ready Ez!” Ellis held two gloved thumbs up.</p><p>Ezran carefully placed the cup over the deconstructor before running behind the glass. The cup hovered for a few seconds before fading and flickering. In and out and in and out like a glitching hologram. The pale glow from the deconstructor grew brighter as small bolts of energy sprouted from it.</p><p>Ellis’ face fell.</p><p>“That’s not supposed to happen.”</p><p>“We’ve got to shut it down!” Aanya told her.</p><p>“I can’t do it remotely!”</p><p>Aanya was already heading to cut the power, but not before one of the energy bolts hit the glass, leaving a mark on it. The bolts grew larger, more violent and unpredictable. Ezran ran towards his friend, tackling her to the ground and shoving her behind a reinforced wall. </p><p>“I’ll handle this. Go with Aanya!” he shouted over the whirring.</p><p>Ezran tried to grab the cup, thinking that maybe if he pulled away the objective focus of the teleporter’s energy, it would shut down. </p><p>In theory, it was solid. In practice, his hand phased right through it.</p><p>In a last ditch effort, Ezran tried to pull the plug, but it was stubborn against his grip. </p><p>A crack filled the room, sending Ezran to the floor. He witnessed a sphere of energy expand slowly, only to quickly collapse and implode. An even louder crack rattled in his head, sending his surroundings into total darkness, with the exception of the full moon and the city lights. Pouring in from the large window behind him. Ellis and Aanya came out from their hiding spot, holding their ears and groaning as they walked out to look for their friend.</p><p>“Ezran!” Ellis called out to him, supporting his head as he sat up, quickly scanning his body for any visible injuries. Aanya double checked by quickly patting him down, deeming him unharmed when he didn’t flinch or react in any way that indicated he was in pain..</p><p>“Ezran, are you alright?”</p><p>“Yeah, I’m fine.” He held up Ellis’ deconstructor, metal strips flaring out like a wilted flower. “Don’t think this is, though.”</p><p>“Oh, who cares about that!” Ellis took it and absentmindedly tossed it to the side.</p><p>But instead of a dull thud of the burnt metal hitting the floor, the three of them heard a pained groaning.</p><p>Everyone whipped their heads in the direction of the sound. They weren’t sure what to expect, but they certainly weren’t expecting a man clad in worn jeans, an open zip-up hoodie and a Spider Queen one-piece suit. Everything in the design was identical to <em> her </em>suit, from the insignia to the mask, the only exception being the color scheme.</p><p>“Who is that?” Aanya whispered to Ellis, who didn’t have an answer.</p><p>Ezran did, however. His instincts flared at this new person in the room, but they weren’t telling him he was in any danger, but instead there was a sense of something he couldn’t describe, but he <em> knew </em> this person was like him. In fact, there was <em> another </em> in the room that he couldn’t see.</p><p>“Ezran?”</p><p>The hoodie-clad figure was now looking at him, Ezran immediately recognized the voice, and when the person lifted the mask it solidified Ezran’s speculation, but raised more questions than answers.</p><p>Callum stared back at him with murky green eyes, filled with a mixture of fear, confusion and relief. Hundreds of questions swam through Ezran’s mind, which were cut off when the third spider-person was felt moving through the room.</p><p>“Who’s there?” Ezran called.</p><p>“Tell me where I am first!”</p><p>Ezran and Callum stood up, taking a battle stance like second nature. Both looked around the room, but not catching so much as a glimpse of a fifth person.</p><p>“New York,” Ezran replied. “You don’t need to be afraid,” Ezran picked over his words carefully. Ellis and Aanya didn’t know about his powers, but he needed to get the trust of this new person.</p><p>“I’m like you!” Callum interjected, much to Ezran’s relief. “W- <em> I </em> can feel it, and I know you do, too.”</p><p>It was enough to finally have the hidden figure’s footsteps to walk in their direction, but no body was there to accompany the sound.</p><p>The figure suddenly appeared from thin air. Ellis and Aanya gasped in shock and fear at the sight. Callum and Ezran only flinched and exchanged glances.</p><p>“I highly doubt you’re like me. None of you are like any elves I’ve ever seen” the figure seethed, pointing two curved swords at the four of them. A woman’s voice. Purple marks decorated her arms and face, violet eyes peered through white locks under her baggy hood.</p><p>“We’re just as confused as you are,” Ezran began, “If we all drop what potentially weapon-like objects we have, we can figure this out and fix… whatever’s going on.” Callum and Ezran raised their hands, Ellis and Aanya following suit. The woman in the hood put her swords away.</p><p>“You,” the white haired woman looked to Ezran and held her sword a bit higher. “You said I’m in New… Yore?” She spoke with an accent, Scottish if Ezran had to guess. “We’re not in Xadia?”</p><p>“New York,” Callum politely corrected, “and, I’m afraid I’ve never heard of Zayda.”</p><p>“Clearly something happened to bring me here. I’m not leaving until I figure everything out.”</p><p>“T-That… might be a bit of an issue,” Ellis stammered, still intimidated by the scary hooded lady. “The deconstructor messed with time a little bit,” she held out her phone to show the time, “we got sent back to three in the morning.”</p><p>Well, that explains where the sun went.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Confused? That's intentional, but I'll give you answers in the comments if you want them.</p><p>If there's any specific Spidey AU shenanigans you want to see here, please leave it in the comments. Srsly, please tell me or I'll have to concult the Rayllum discord.</p><p>This series is solely for busting my writer's block, so if the writing's not great that's why.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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